Change looms for Pittsburgh after sweep in conference finals

Instead of arriving at Consol Energy Center for what was scheduled to be Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals, the Penguins were gathering one last time Sunday before going their separate ways to ponder how a once-promising season collapsed in merely a week.

Gone were the bushy beards that hoped to grow for another few weeks, replaced with clean-shaven faces after the Boston Bruins had them raising their Mach 3s instead of the Stanley Cup with a four-game sweep in the Eastern Conference Finals.

"Personally, I haven’t really figured out what went exactly wrong yet, but it's not fun," said defenseman Douglas Murray, who joined the team in March shortly before the trade deadline. "You have a lot of questions in your head and you're trying to figure out what happened. It hasn't sunk in yet."

Words like "passion" and "accountability" hover above the players in the locker room, but the one that seems to be most spoken these days is "disappointment."

"It's never fun losing that last game of the year. We came across a really good team in Boston. That series, they were the better team," said veteran winger Brenden Morrow, who arrived in Pittsburgh a day before Murray in search of an elusive Stanley Cup.

Much of the blame for the Penguins' collapse has been heaped on head coach Dan Bylsma, who said he has yet to talk to general manager Ray Shero about his status for next season.

"It's definitely that shock and disbelief and a little bit surreal that we got eliminated, we got beat in four straight and didn't win a game against the Bruins," said Bylsma. "I haven't had time to really put my arms around it and get a lesson learned or a reaction from myself."

But if you ask Bylsma's team, it's up to his players to execute on the ice.

"There's only so much your coach can do. He doesn't go out there and play. We are more than responsible for not being able to find a way to win. That's our responsibility," said captain Sidney Crosby, who failed to register a point in the Bruins series and was a minus-2.

Left winger Chris Kunitz, Crosby's linemate and scorer of one of the Penguins' two goals in the series, noted the team's track record of failing to extend regular-season success into the playoffs since winning the Stanley Cup in 2009.

"Obviously, we have a great group of guys who believe in our coaching staff and go out there and work hard every night. To why we didn't get it done, it's obviously the guys on the ice when we go out there. We're prepared. We understand what we need to do. We just didn't execute. Might want to call it bad breaks or bad bounces, but to do it over four games, there is no excuse," said Kunitz, sporting a Pittsburgh Pirates cap.

Regardless of where the blame ultimately falls, the Penguins will have a summer to find the answer to those questions, well aware the winds of change are certain to blow through the locker room in the offseason.

"It's like every year. We do it every year, but at a different time. Obviously, it's not the right time, but it's always a sad moment for all the guys, especially that you might not see all the same faces coming into next season. It's not a really great vision," said defenseman Kris Letang.

But with seven unrestricted free agents, a decreasing salary cap and an unsatisfying playoff exit for the fourth-straight season, that vision is likely to include the parting of a few familiar faces.

When asked if he anticipates change, Crosby responded, "Potentially, a bit. We'll have to wait and see. We know there are some guys who are unrestricted (free agents). We'll have to see though. As a player, you kind of sit and wait and see."

Shero will have plenty to decide between now and the July 5 start of free agency. Perhaps he'll give a glimpse into what he's thinking at a scheduled media availability on Wednesday morning.

Until then, leave it to future Hall of Famer Jarome Iginla, who always seems to know what to say, even after choosing a trade to Pittsburgh over Boston and again falling short of raising the Stanley Cup.

"It was just about winning and unfortunately we didn't get that done."